1918-1919
n
The German Revolution
tio
[transition from MONARCHY of the Kaiser to REPUBLICANISM (the Weimar Republic)]
Ludendorf:
ca
Realisation that the war was lost (July 1917 crisis)
du
Political change: authoritarian monarchy to CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY (Kaiser handing over political power to a civilian government
- Establish a more democratic government while still maintaining the German monarchy
ice
1. October reform
Revolution from above
at
Ludendorf’s political turnaround
m
AIMS:
1. Secure for Germany the best possible peace terms from the Allies (more sympathetic to a democratic regime in Berlin)
izo
2. It would prevent the outbreak of political revolutionary disturbances (mainly from left wing)
3. Need to shift the responsibility for the defeat away from the military leadership and the conservative forces (landowners, the army) to the new
leadership EXTEND OF CHANGE
- Origin of the “stab in the back myth”- view that the army had not really lost the WW1 and that unpatriotic groups (socialists, Jews) had
rh
undermined the war effort. WEAKENED the Weimar democracy from the start
,REFORMS:
Turned Germany into a parliamentary government
1. Wilhelm II gave up his powers over the army and the navy to the Reichstag (parliament)
n
2. The Chancellor and his government were made accountable to the Reichstag instead of to the Kaiser
tio
3. At the same time armistice negotiations with the Allies were opened
EFFECTS:
ca
Structuralist Wehler
du
“The conservative bastions of the monarchy and the army were to be preserved as far as possible behind the façade of new arrangements intended to
prevent the radical overthrow of the system and prove acceptable to the Allies”
HOWEVER
ice
2. The November Revolution
PHASE 1: 29 October
● Mutiny of sailor
at
m
● Refused toobey orders at Wilhelmshaven
● Prince’s Max government quickly lost control of the political situation
izo
PHASE 2: 2 November
● Sailors gained control of other major ports (Kiel, Hamburg)
● Prompted by a real fear among the sailors that their officers were planning a Suicide Attack on the British Fleet- restore the honour of the German
rh
navy
, ● News of the Kiel mutiny- discontent to other ports
PHASE 3: 6 November
● Workers’ and soldiers’ councils (similar to the soviets in Russia) established in the major cities (Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart)
n
tio
Shock of defeat:
1. Realisation by troops and sailors that the war was lost and nothing was to be gained by carrying on
ca
2. Sense of national shock when the news came of Germany’s military defeat- propaganda and censorship had really delayed the reality for too
long
3. Increasing anger and bitterness over the socio-economic conditions
du
POWER VACUUM
ice
Emperor’s delusions that he could carry on without any more political changes placed the Chancellor in a difficult position
9 November:
-
at
Prince Max- worried-Announced that the Kaiser would renounce the throne and that a coalition left-wing government would be formed by
Friedrich Ebert
m
- Philipp Scheidemann (provisional government’s leader)- Proclaimed Germany a republic
- Later declared soviet republic
izo
- Kaiser walked away and went into exile voluntarily in the Netherlands
EFFECT: Statements crucial for the shaping of the next few months of the German Revolution
rh
The Left-Wing Movement
, Early November 1918- Revolutionary situation in Germany
However revolutionary wave was not a united force
n
tio
ca
Ebert’s Coalition Government:
EBERT’S PROBLEM:
du
Different aims and methods of the socialist movement-lack of unity in Ebert’s coalition government
(context) German society in chaotic place of near collapse-(effect on political agreement) leading political figures had little room to manoeuvre when they
ice
had to make difficult decisions
9 November 1918
at
Provisional Coalition Government:
m
1. Provisional short term until a national election was held to vote for a National Constituent Assembly (parliament)
2. Coalition combination of parties (SPD, USPD)
izo
EBERT’S CONCERNS:
rh
1. Extreme left (Spartacists) would gain the upper hand
2. Workers’ councils might threaten his policy of gradual change
3. Civil war
n
The German Revolution
tio
[transition from MONARCHY of the Kaiser to REPUBLICANISM (the Weimar Republic)]
Ludendorf:
ca
Realisation that the war was lost (July 1917 crisis)
du
Political change: authoritarian monarchy to CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY (Kaiser handing over political power to a civilian government
- Establish a more democratic government while still maintaining the German monarchy
ice
1. October reform
Revolution from above
at
Ludendorf’s political turnaround
m
AIMS:
1. Secure for Germany the best possible peace terms from the Allies (more sympathetic to a democratic regime in Berlin)
izo
2. It would prevent the outbreak of political revolutionary disturbances (mainly from left wing)
3. Need to shift the responsibility for the defeat away from the military leadership and the conservative forces (landowners, the army) to the new
leadership EXTEND OF CHANGE
- Origin of the “stab in the back myth”- view that the army had not really lost the WW1 and that unpatriotic groups (socialists, Jews) had
rh
undermined the war effort. WEAKENED the Weimar democracy from the start
,REFORMS:
Turned Germany into a parliamentary government
1. Wilhelm II gave up his powers over the army and the navy to the Reichstag (parliament)
n
2. The Chancellor and his government were made accountable to the Reichstag instead of to the Kaiser
tio
3. At the same time armistice negotiations with the Allies were opened
EFFECTS:
ca
Structuralist Wehler
du
“The conservative bastions of the monarchy and the army were to be preserved as far as possible behind the façade of new arrangements intended to
prevent the radical overthrow of the system and prove acceptable to the Allies”
HOWEVER
ice
2. The November Revolution
PHASE 1: 29 October
● Mutiny of sailor
at
m
● Refused toobey orders at Wilhelmshaven
● Prince’s Max government quickly lost control of the political situation
izo
PHASE 2: 2 November
● Sailors gained control of other major ports (Kiel, Hamburg)
● Prompted by a real fear among the sailors that their officers were planning a Suicide Attack on the British Fleet- restore the honour of the German
rh
navy
, ● News of the Kiel mutiny- discontent to other ports
PHASE 3: 6 November
● Workers’ and soldiers’ councils (similar to the soviets in Russia) established in the major cities (Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart)
n
tio
Shock of defeat:
1. Realisation by troops and sailors that the war was lost and nothing was to be gained by carrying on
ca
2. Sense of national shock when the news came of Germany’s military defeat- propaganda and censorship had really delayed the reality for too
long
3. Increasing anger and bitterness over the socio-economic conditions
du
POWER VACUUM
ice
Emperor’s delusions that he could carry on without any more political changes placed the Chancellor in a difficult position
9 November:
-
at
Prince Max- worried-Announced that the Kaiser would renounce the throne and that a coalition left-wing government would be formed by
Friedrich Ebert
m
- Philipp Scheidemann (provisional government’s leader)- Proclaimed Germany a republic
- Later declared soviet republic
izo
- Kaiser walked away and went into exile voluntarily in the Netherlands
EFFECT: Statements crucial for the shaping of the next few months of the German Revolution
rh
The Left-Wing Movement
, Early November 1918- Revolutionary situation in Germany
However revolutionary wave was not a united force
n
tio
ca
Ebert’s Coalition Government:
EBERT’S PROBLEM:
du
Different aims and methods of the socialist movement-lack of unity in Ebert’s coalition government
(context) German society in chaotic place of near collapse-(effect on political agreement) leading political figures had little room to manoeuvre when they
ice
had to make difficult decisions
9 November 1918
at
Provisional Coalition Government:
m
1. Provisional short term until a national election was held to vote for a National Constituent Assembly (parliament)
2. Coalition combination of parties (SPD, USPD)
izo
EBERT’S CONCERNS:
rh
1. Extreme left (Spartacists) would gain the upper hand
2. Workers’ councils might threaten his policy of gradual change
3. Civil war
